Josh's Dymax IQ3 Pico Reef

BGJ223

Posted 01 November 2011 - 08:53 AM

BGJ223

Nano Reefer

Members

470 posts

Joined 08 Aug 2011

Southern California

FTS 3/20/2012

Howdy Folks. Lets start this off with a little story, then we will get to the good stuff. So I had a Reef Vase for a little while, but a couple things were bugging the heck out of me, so I had to change. First issue was the sound of the air pump, even though I was using a whisper, I didn't like the hum that I got from it. Second was the very annoying uncontrollable salt creep. Because of the type of vase and lid that I made for it, I could not get the salt creep under control. See, told you it would be a short story. So here we are today..... For you folks that don't know yet, check out http://www.micro-reefs.com Great items and prices for Pico stuff (that is where I got several of my items from)

brandon429

Posted 01 November 2011 - 10:00 AM

brandon429

Members

5,523 posts

Joined 16 Feb 2002

Tx

the all one piece rock structure is a great idea.

it allows you to lift it out occasionally to siphon under it or do external treatments for pests where the inner environment won't be affected. a removable reef structure is highly preferably to one that is left alone and never cleaned under. you can cover that scape in frags and hide the seams etc. if it were mine Id start c balance dosing, you w get first purple coralline spot about December if you seed the tank with actual coralline or coralline rock and by March if you go completely dry cycle start, I couldn't tell if that rock was cured or not in a LFS tank.

one very old pico

Got that way by:
Problem algae growth has nothing to do with excess of anything in many natural settings and in most reef tanks its the absence of something. Find the something, earn an old reef tank.

Quit chasing phosphate. Last decade was nitrate, neither are the something.

Posted 01 November 2011 - 01:22 PM

BGJ223

Posted 01 November 2011 - 03:04 PM

BGJ223

Nano Reefer

Members

470 posts

Joined 08 Aug 2011

Southern California

the all one piece rock structure is a great idea.

it allows you to lift it out occasionally to siphon under it or do external treatments for pests where the inner environment won't be affected. a removable reef structure is highly preferably to one that is left alone and never cleaned under. you can cover that scape in frags and hide the seams etc. if it were mine Id start c balance dosing, you w get first purple coralline spot about December if you seed the tank with actual coralline or coralline rock and by March if you go completely dry cycle start, I couldn't tell if that rock was cured or not in a LFS tank.

Well the rock already has coraline on it, and I added a small rock in there that has several shades of coraline, I am hoping I get more than just purple in this tank. C-Balance is already on the menu for this tank, along with the ESV B-Ionic salt mix.

nice work! ill be following along as i just got my iq3 in the mail today

Post a link to your thread when you get started. I want to see how you do yours.

BGJ223

Posted 23 November 2011 - 12:28 PM

BGJ223

Nano Reefer

Members

470 posts

Joined 08 Aug 2011

Southern California

Just thought I would share a quick FTS

The sand has been piled to the back thanks to the pistol shrimp. Also I have a Yasha Goby in there (not a big fan). The goby is a big time jumper I have picked him up from my counter 4 times now. He jumps pretty much every time my tweezers hit the water. Also, he is no where near as exciting as I hoped he would be. And lastly, the little bugger bites me when I rescue him from the counter.

As you can see just under the orange monti there is a white spot where the green monti was. He did not like that location obviously. The tiny piece that I placed lower in the tank bleached out where direct light was hitting it but the shaded area is doing well. Hopefully that piece makes it. The other 2 SPS I added at the same time lost some color shortly after I added them, but they are coming back quite nicely. The all purple one is coming back purple with green tips.

Lastly, I added 4 moonlights. Overkill? you bet ya, but I am loving it. I run them 2 hours before and after main lights. So it is pretty much just running actinics.